Glen Sather

Did You Know?

• Sather played three junior seasons starting in 1961 with the Edmonton Oil Kings.
• He played 739 regular season games as a pro, scoring 99 goals and 146 assists with 801 penalty minutes.
• Sather, Brian Burke, and Darryl Porter owned the Tri-City Americans of the WHL until 2005, then helped establish the Chilliwack Bruins as an expansion team.

Post-playing career

Sather became player-coach of the Edmonton Oilers in the WHA with 18 games left in the 1976–77 season. In his first game, the Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets 5–4, and Sather scored a goal 1:11 into the contest. He retired as a player after that season but stayed on as head coach, becoming the organization's public face for the next 25 years. When the Oilers joined the NHL in 1979–80, Sather remained head coach.

In 1978, owner Peter Pocklington asked Sather about acquiring Wayne Gretzky; Sather urged him to do whatever was necessary. Many scouts considered Gretzky too small for professional hockey, but Sather allowed Gretzky to live with his family after the acquisition. After the Oilers' first NHL season, Sather was promoted to president and general manager, naming Bryan Watson head coach. Following a poor start to 1980–81, Sather returned behind the bench and demoted Watson.

The young Oilers swept the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs. Sather, advised by chief scout Barry Fraser, drafted Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Andy Moog, Grant Fuhr, and Steve Smith. In 1981–82, the Oilers set an NHL record with 417 goals, led by Gretzky's 92 goals and 212 points, but lost in the first playoff round to the Los Angeles Kings.

Career accomplishments

Sather ranks 19th in regular-season coaching wins in NHL history. His teams posted winning records in 8 of 11 full seasons as head coach and missed the playoffs only once. The Oilers finished first in the regular season three times under him and set numerous scoring records. As head coach, he won 89 playoff games and lost 37, capturing four Stanley Cups in five Finals appearances: 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1988. As president and general manager, he won Stanley Cups in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1990. The Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic in Edmonton, Alberta, was named in his honor. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2010, he became an inaugural inductee into the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame. His banner was raised to the rafters of Rexall Place on December 11, 2015.